VZCZCXRO4494
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0577/01 1140413
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 240413Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8341
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PHNOM PENH 000577 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, INL/AAE--CHARLES BOULDIN 
BANGKOK FOR NAS--TERRY DARU, DEA--SCOTT SEELEY-HACKER, PAT 
CHAGNON, AND JOHN SWAIN, AND REO--JIM WALLER 
HANOI FOR DEA--JEFFREY WANNER AND POL--PETER ECKSTROM 
VIENTIANE FOR NAS--CLIFF HEINZER 
PACOM FOR JIATF-WEST--DAVID KILBOURN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR PGOV ASEC SENV CB
SUBJECT: CAMBODIA DRUG TRENDS:  INCREASED SEIZURES REFLECT 
INCREASED TRAFFICKING 
 
REF: A. PHNOM PENH 515 
     ¶B. PHNOM PENH 536 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Even before the April 1, 2007 raid on a 
methamphetamine superlab (reftels), significant increases in 
drug seizures in Cambodia in 2006 pointed to a strong 
increase in drug trafficking and modest improvements in 
police effectiveness.  Increased trafficking by ethnic 
Chinese and an increase in concealed drug trafficking to 
Australia contributed to a near-doubling of heroin seizures 
in 2006.  Prices for methamphetamine pills have risen in 
Cambodia while the amount of seizures increased by 12% over 
¶2005.  While international observers point to some modest 
improvements in Cambodia's law enforcement efforts, and give 
particularly high marks to the Anti-Drug Police Chief, large 
scale arrests and seizures -- such as the methamphetamine lab 
raid -- remain the exception rather than the rule and suggest 
that, most of the time, the big fish continue to operate 
undetected.  End Summary. 
 
More Drugs Lead to More Busts 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Increases in drug seizures by Cambodian law 
enforcement authorities likely reflect increased drug 
trafficking into Cambodia and modest improvements in police 
effectiveness.  According to a recently released translation 
of statistics from the National Authority for Combating 
Drugs, heroin seizures more than doubled from 8.8 kg in 2005 
to 19.5 kg in 2006.  Cocaine seizures rose five-fold (albeit 
from a small base) from 1 kg in 2005 to 5.1 kg in 2006. 
Seizures of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) tablets rose by 
12%, reaching 428,553 tablets in 2006.  While Anti-Drug 
Police Chief Moek Dara trumpeted the rise in seizures as 
evidence of his unit's effectiveness, the Prime Minister 
expressed skepticism about police efforts at a Minister of 
the Interior conference in February.  Australian Federal 
Police (AFP) liaison Kim Stewart told Poleconoff that 
increased seizures are probably due more to increased flows 
of drugs than dramatic improvements in law enforcement 
efficiency. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Foreign law enforcement officials and international 
observers describe the Cambodian Anti-Drug Police (CADP) as 
eager to follow up on tips -- coming from either foreign 
sources such as the DEA or Australian Federal Police or local 
informants -- but with little ability to generate their own 
leads on major cases.  Stewart noted that Moek Dara is "a bit 
of a go-getter" and seems genuinely motivated to increase the 
effectiveness of the CADP.  Nonetheless, the AFP has seen no 
dramatic improvements in policing or investigative methods 
over the past year.  She noted that bureaucracy within the 
CADP has not improved in the two and a half years that she 
has been in Cambodia, and that all decisions must be made at 
senior levels, creating bottlenecks.  Moreover, she said that 
a "blame mentality" hindered effective police work, as there 
was no protection for well-intentioned officers who make 
mistakes, such as officers who legitimately suspect a 
traveler of concealing drugs but find nothing upon further 
examination.  DEA Bangkok Country Office staff described the 
CADP as extremely cooperative in following up on DEA leads, 
such as the case of South American drug smugglers in 
September and October 2006, but said they hoped the CADP 
would be more timely in notifying them of future cases. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Operational budget difficulties may be one of 
several obstacles -- including lack of training, low 
salaries, corruption, and limited political will -- hampering 
the effectiveness of the CADP.  Moek Dara complained that the 
National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD), a 
policy-making body which oversees the CADP and other 
organizations, fails to pass on donor money to his police 
unit.  He noted that although he has 232 police officers in 
Phnom Penh and 434 in the rest of the country, his operating 
budget for travel, raids, sting operations, etc. was just USD 
2,500/month. 
 
Heroin Seizures Up Dramatically; Linked to China, Taiwan and 
Australia 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Dramatic increases in heroin seizures and arrests 
seem to be driven by several new trends:  increased use of 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000577  002 OF 004 
 
 
bodily concealment as a trafficking method, an increase in 
ethnic Chinese trafficking heroin through Cambodia into 
Taiwan and mainland China, and increased concealment-based 
drug smuggling from southeast Asia to Australia.  Of the 18 
individuals arrested in 2006 for heroin trafficking, at least 
8 were ethnic Chinese, all of whom were arrested at Phnom 
Penh International Airport and who collectively carried 12.4 
kg of heroin.  Jeremy Douglas of the UN Office of Drugs and 
Crime in Bangkok speculated that the increase in injecting 
drug use in Taiwan may be driving part of this trend. 
Several of these would-be Chinese traffickers were discovered 
because they had strapped heroin packets to their bodies or 
shoes, giving them an odd appearance or creating difficulties 
in walking.  Others attempted to conceal heroin in their 
luggage, including a Taiwanese man smuggling heroin disguised 
as foil-wrapped candies. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Stewart noted that there have been dramatic 
increases in cases of travelers concealing drugs and 
traveling via air, including into Australia.  In March 2006, 
a Vietnamese-Australian was arrested for smuggling heroin in 
fish fillets on a flight from Cambodia.  In October 2006, 
nine Cambodian couriers were arrested during the attempted 
smuggling of more than 4 kg of heroin to Australia.  Stewart 
mentioned cases of Australia-bound concealed heroin 
originating from Ho Chi Minh City as well. 
 
Amphetamine Prices Rise; Traffickers Use New Methods 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Prices for amphetamine-type stimulants have been 
rising over the past few years, according to Moek Dara.  He 
said that in 2005 a single ATS tablet was worth fifty US 
cents in Champasat, Laos; one US dollar in northern Cambodia 
or in Phnom Penh; and two dollars in the western Cambodian 
provinces bordering Thailand.  (Note:  Drug prices in 
Cambodia are generally lower where the drugs enter the 
country at the Lao border and rise as the drugs get closer to 
Thailand, where a single ATS tablet can fetch USD 7, and 
Vietnam, where an ATS tablet can fetch USD 4.50.  End Note.) 
Over the course of the year, however, he said that while the 
price remained constant in Laos, the price of an ATS tablet 
rose to USD 1.50 in northern Cambodia, USD 3 in Phnom Penh 
and Siem Reap, and more than USD 4 in western Cambodia.  The 
rising price of ATS tablets means higher profits for drug 
traffickers who successfully complete their trips:  Moek Dara 
estimated that profit for the route between the Lao border 
and Phnom Penh had tripled. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Moek Dara attributed the increasing cost of ATS 
tablets to his increased law enforcement efforts, though 
World Health Organization drug expert Graham Shaw noted that 
the price of heroin has been rising in the region over the 
past six years, making methamphetamines a more attractive 
alternative and raising the amount that people are willing to 
pay for them.  Shaw noted that the rising prices of both 
drugs are causing a resurgence of solvent abuse -- a concern 
among the health community as "huffing" causes health damage, 
particularly neurological damage, that is more serious and 
develops more quickly than negative health impacts of other 
types of drug abuse. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Another change in amphetamine trafficking patterns, 
Moek Dara noted, was that drug traffickers are now shipping 
in smaller numbers of high-potency ATS tablets and then 
reprocessing the drugs in Cambodia to create lower potency 
pills.  For the traffickers, this is a risk-aversion 
strategy, as importing more highly concentrated ATS and then 
"cutting" them with legal substances allows the same number 
of pills to be produced while reducing the volume of illicit 
material that must enter Cambodia.  Moek Dara reported 
raiding nine re-processing facilities, including six in Phnom 
Penh, and seizing enough raw materials in 2006 to produce 
three million tablets.  Most of the facilities were run by 
Cambodians, although a few were Vietnamese-run, he said.  He 
noted that there were still two or three re-processing 
facilities operating in Cambodia and said he hoped to raid 
them soon. 
 
DEA Cooperation Critical to Cocaine Seizures at Airport 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Cooperation with the Drug Enforcement 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000577  003 OF 004 
 
 
Administration (DEA) was the second only to "NACD effort" as 
the cause of the dramatic increase in cocaine seizures, 
according to NACD director Lour Ramin.  He noted that all of 
this year's cocaine busts -- three seizures netting 5.1 kg, 
five times last year's total -- stemmed from DEA tips.  This 
amount was seized in a series of busts of South Americans who 
had swallowed cocaine and entered Cambodia via the Phnom Penh 
International Airport.  The DEA passed tips about these cases 
on to the Cambodian police, who apprehended the suspects and 
recovered the drugs.  Moek Dara noted that the cocaine market 
in Cambodia is small and he suspected these drugs were bound 
for the larger Thai market.  He asserted that after the 
opening of Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi International Airport 
in September 2006, drug traffickers became alarmed by the 
capability of new screening equipment and chose to re-route 
their shipments.  The new route is for people to enter 
Cambodia at Phnom Penh, fly to Siem Reap, expel the drugs, 
and then travel overland into Thailand.  Lour Ramin also 
thanked the US for other US counternarcotics assistance, 
including INL-funded demand reduction and drug interdiction 
training and JIATF-West counternarcotics training. 
 
Safrole Oil:  An Emerging Threat 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Moek Dara described the trafficking of safrole 
oil, a precursor chemical, as a threat that had emerged since 
¶2004.  In the last year, he noted that the police had 
conducted 20 raids, arrested or "educated" (i.e., chastised) 
521 people, and destroyed 100 steaming tanks.  Several 
existing laws have small portions relevant to precursor 
control, but the punishments are mainly fines, offering 
little deterrence.  The CADP chief proudly noted that 
Interior Minister Sar Kheng had agreed to his suggestion to 
move safrole oil to a different class of restricted 
substances, offering stiffer penalties and creating a better 
deterrent to its harvest and trafficking.  Safrole oil will 
now be included in a list of drug manufacturing materials, 
leading to a jail time of 2-5 years as well as fines. 
 
Potential Drug Trafficking Routes and Methods 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Two drug trafficking methods are widely recognized 
as common by local drug experts:  from southern Laos into 
northern Cambodia's Stung Treng and Preah Vihear provinces 
either overland or via the Mekong, and via air travelers in 
their luggage or concealed on or in their bodies.  WHO drug 
expert Graham Shaw outlined other potential methods and 
routes for drug traffickers.  Shaw noted that Cambodia's 
extreme northeast could be an attractive area for drug 
smuggling between Laos and Vietnam.  There is essentially no 
law enforcement presence in extreme northeastern Cambodia 
outside of the provincial capital of Banlung, he noted, and 
very little is known publicly about the roads, air fields, 
and helipads in the region.  Would-be smugglers could easily 
build new drug smuggling routes under the guise of building 
logging roads, and well-connected officials could even take 
advantage of periodic road closures associated with the 
presence of Montagnard refugees to traffic drugs without 
attracting attention. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Shaw also noted that Cambodia's airports have many 
vulnerabilities beyond the small, foreign-based networks of 
couriers who have been arrested thus far.  Standard security 
procedures in both airports are poor and center on security 
contractors rather than government officials.  Military 
compounds located near Phnom Penh and Siem Reap airports and 
VIP waiting rooms that allow patrons to skip security 
procedures offer easy access with little scrutiny to 
government/military officials and the well-connected.  Tarmac 
access is freely granted, and a feud between immigration 
officials and airport authorities affects the issuing of 
airport ID cards.  Finally, Shaw expressed skepticism about 
the rehabilitation of the airport in Sihanoukville, saying he 
was surprised that the airport was re-opening when he 
perceived Sihanoukville's foreign tourist potential as 
limited, and wondering if there was a reason why the 
upgrading of the Sihanoukville airport was taking so long. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000577  004 OF 004 
 
 
¶14.  (SBU) Cambodia's already significant drug trafficking 
problem is expanding.  Although the Cambodian Anti-Drug 
Police, and particularly Moek Dara, seem to be attempting to 
match the rising threat, they remain a largely reactive 
force.  While drug seizures rose substantially from 2005 to 
2006, these seizures appeared to target relatively small 
scale couriers rather than the heads of major operations. 
Indeed, infrequent spectacular busts -- including the recent 
discovery of a methamphetamine superlab in Cambodia, the 2004 
seizure of more than 800,000 ATS tablets, and the 2003 arrest 
of Major General Dom Hak and related seizure of more than 40 
kg of methamphetamines -- suggest that there is large-scale 
drug trafficking (and now production) happening in Cambodia, 
the police just aren't catching most of it.  End Comment. 
MUSSOMELI